Okay... here it goes...

So here's my attempt at updating on what's been happening in life the last little bit. I don't know why but I go through these spits where I have a ton of motivation and then into long stretches where I just have none. I guess this is why I don't do well with journals. I'm going to have to break this up in to 2 or 3 different posts because we've actually done a LOT recently. I don't think we did one really interesting thing all summer and just these last few weeks alone we've been more busy than we've been since the baby was born. I think I'm also going to have to work backwards on a lot of this because I don't have all of my pictures on my computer just yet and I know if I wait to get those on it will be next year before I write this post!!! 

So this last week is where I'm going to start. WE HAVE OUR WINDOWS IN!!!! I'm soooo excited!!! We have had a lot of company in town this late month and the last to arrive was Paul's parents. They came into town to bring Paul's sister Amie back to school. They decided to stay a full week to help us put in the window we purchased in April. We've had them since then but we haven't been able to put some time together to get them in because of work, finances, and life. With the holiday that gave us some extra time to get things together and really work hard. Unfortunately Monday, the actual holiday, the worst day of the week and we couldn't get any work done. It was pretty lame. But Paul and his dad made up for lost time and buckled down and got a ton of work done Tuesday while I was at work. Our first glitch came Wednesday when Paul had to get his wisdom teeth out. He's been having problems with one of them for the greater part of last month and so we had to schedule to get them out as soon as possible. Unfortunately it needed to be done the same week all of this was happening. It was a blessing that they were in town because I was having a hard time getting time off from work and so it was great to have family here that could help Paul take care of the baby while he was down. He's still not feeling that great but is slowly making improvements each day. I hope he's feeling much better tomorrow because it's going to just be him and the little one and I don't know how he's going to do if he's still in as much pain as he has been. 

So Wednesday we get his teeth out and get him back to bed and work on the windows. Being a man down it kind of slowed the work but Thursday I ended up staying home to help take care of Paul and do what I could around the house. We made some progress but it was a little slow because there was still a lot going on with trying to get everything else settled. We still had to move Amie in and get her all set up for classes. Friday I had to be back at work so everyone was here helping at the house. Paul wasn't able to do a ton of work but he did get some painting in when he was feeling up to it. By Friday we finally had all of the old windows out and frames and the new windows in as snug as possible. Saturday we spent the rest of our time together finalizing the setup and getting everything put back together. 

The front of the house looks totally different and it's a little weird to think it's all done. It is such a relief to have all of the nasty bug infested windows out of the house. It's been a worry of mine to have the baby around some of the old disgusting things the house had before we moved in here. The carpet was a big thing but the windows really worried me. Now we don't have to worry about leaking air in or out and we don't have the extra critters roaming around the house. It's amazing!!! We can even open our windows now and cool down on hot days!!! It's wonderful!!! 

Now it's time to move onto the next project.... Goodness it never ends!!! Here are some pictures of the process...

This is the window in the living room. Dave and Paul got this in Tuesday. It was so great to have all of them here because with just my help this window would have been near impossible!!
This is the window in our bedroom from the inside. It was so weird to have a gaping hole in our wall it is was amazing to see how dingy the view from inside was. The new windows are so clear they look just like this with a white boarder. It's amazing how different it all is!!
Here's Dave in front of the hole on the outside. He did so much work. I can't believe how blessed we are to have such a wonderful family!!!

This is the back of the house... I don't have any finished pictures yet. I need to go get some a soon as we do the final touch ups with paint and everything.
This is the only before picture I could find. We took this the summer we moved in. I think it was August of 2006. It's a MUCH different place now. I need to get some from the same angle but here is what it kind of looks like now...
It's' all so different!!! I think we're going to paint next year but don't they look GREAT!!! We love all of the changes. It's so nice to have those pesky trees out of the way!!! 

It's so great to finally see things happen here on the house. We're hoping to get enough saved up here soon to get more done on the inside. We're getting close. We still have a lot to do but we're getting there. It's going to be fun to see all of the changes when it's complete. 

If you want to see what we've actually done so far with the whole house, check out these facebook albums. They've got pictures of it all!!! Inside and out!!!

The Window Project

Carpet, Kitchen and Fireplace Project 

Carpet, Kitchen and Fireplace Project #2

Backyard Project